A Little Boost
by The Fifth Dimension
Summary: When Seth is feeling down on himself after his injury, Paige pays him a visit to see if she can't bring the old Seth back.


**Author's Note: Poor Seth, away from the spotlight, just waiting for his leg to heal. I wondered what the heck he'd be doing (probably ACTUAL workouts XD) so I figured I'd write something about it. Also starring everyone's favorite "glampire." Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **A Little** **Boost**_

* * *

The frantic, thunderous knocking at his front door startled Seth, his daily workout interrupted in the process. That is, if one could consider 'wasting away on a couch playing video games' a workout; it got his adrenaline pumping, at least. Truth be told, his months spent away from the WWE, from the place where he longed to be, were filled with repetitive nonsense. He played video games far too often, he barely spoke a word to anyone - some could argue that he barely spoke to anyone at work in the first place - and the only thing he had 'redesigned, rebuilt, and reclaimed' was his living room's new sound system.

The former world champion realized in only a short amount of time how dull his life would be without the ability to be able to wrestle for the WWE. It was his dream, ever since he was a child; a dream he turned into a reality with determination and hard work. Slouched over in his living room, playing video games and drowning himself in popcorn, Seth had to stop and wonder where that determination had escaped to. At first, he was solely committed to doing whatever it took to accelerate the healing of his leg, but as days turned into weeks, and RAW after RAW passed him by, the once high-and-mighty WWE champion of the world became a miserable wreck.

Another few knocks on the door, this time louder and with more ferocity. He wasn't expecting company, so whoever was threatening to destroy his front door would have to call it quits. After a few moments of silence, the one behind the knocking allowing him a brief moment to open, Seth could hear the faint sounds of a woman's voice. "Rollins, open the damn door! God, it's so damn cold. Seth!"

Putting the voice to a face, Seth hurriedly grabbed his crutches and hobbled his way over to his door. He thanked the heavens that he wasn't currently on the second floor. Twisting the knob ever-so-carefully, he was greeted by the displeased face of his pale, raven-haired friend.

"Dammit, Seth!" Paige nearly yelled. "I'm going to get frostbite out here. Move." With that, she walked into Seth's house, nearly bowling him over as she did so. Her body finally recovering its lost heat, she removed her jacket and gloves. "Warmth!" The young woman repeatedly rubbed her hands together, presumably trying to regain feeling back in them. "We can get my bags from the car later. There's no way I'm going back out there right now."

Seth, who was still trying to steady himself after being pushed aside by Paige, was puzzled as to why she was even here, in Iowa. "What are you doing here?" The words on his mind left his mouth of their own accord. "Shouldn't you be somewhere in Jersey?" _Not that I'm stalking the WWE's travel schedule, or anything,_ he wanted to add, but decided against it.

"Maybe if someone picked up their phone every once in a while," Paige pulled out her phone to emphasize her point, "then maybe that someone would know that I asked for time off. See? 'Hey, just texting to tell you that I've asked for time off so I can visit. Get excited, Seth-y boy!'" She thrust her phone into his face, showing him the numerous texts she'd sent him within the past couple of days. "I even sent you a few smiling emojis, jerk. Why do you even own a phone if you don't ever use it?"

"Sorry," he apologized weakly. "I've been sort of… busy." As lame as it was, it wasn't entirely inaccurate. Whether or not the activities he was busy with were important enough to neglect his phone, however, was up for debate. A debate that Paige had no problems participating in.

"Yeah, real 'busy', I see." She took one full look around the living room, taking note of the clothes strewn about and popcorn littered across the floor. "Seriously, dude. It's like a pigpen in here." Paige wrinkled her nose in disgust, the sight of Seth's usually tidy home in such a disastrous state making her sick to her stomach. "And have you even taken a shower today? It's a quarter to five, Seth."

The man in question rolled his eyes at her. "Thanks, mom. I can handle the showering aspect of my life without any outside help." Seth winced in pain as the muscles in his leg began to ache. Slowly but surely, he made his way back to the couch he previously occupied. With no further interest in arguing with Paige about the importance of good hygiene, Seth shifted his focus back to his TV, wanting to play another game.

"Look at you! You're such a mess." Following Seth's gaze, after it was clear she was being ignored, Paige turned her attention towards the screen. "See, you don't even like Sub-Zero, and now you're ripping out Scorpion's spine with him. A. Mess."

"Sub-Zero's not so bad, once you get over the fact that he's basically a blue Scorpion with different moves."

"Harsh."

"At least he still has a family to comfort him."

Paige made a motion to reply - "Was that a jab at Scorpion? This is too much for me!" - but she quickly caught herself. "Don't change the subject!"

"You did that. Although I'm happy to talk about anything that doesn't have to do with me, or how I look like crap."

The clicking and clacking of the controller buttons starting to irritate her, Paige snatched said controller out of Seth's hands. She set it down on a nearby coffee table, Seth's protests going unheard. "What's going on with you? You're acting like a lunatic."

"Did you really use that word?" Seth crossed his arms, glaring at his friend. He didn't know what was worse, being called insane, or the thought of being compared to Ambrose. He felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Somewhere out there, Dean was laughing maniacally.

"You know what I mean!" Paige kneeled over and picked up what appeared to be an empty bowl of food, complete with dirty silverware and chicken bones. "This is filthy."

"Man, when did you become such a neat freak?" Seth asked in annoyance.

"I'm not a neat freak. I'm just worried about you." Paige motioned to sit next to Seth, but not before wiping away a few discarded popcorn kernels. It was a mystery to her how anyone could live under these conditions. It was to be expected, she figured, considering the fact that he lived alone, and was going through a rough time. It was as if he'd given up hope in recuperating altogether, but surely that couldn't be the case, right?

"Paige," Seth began, her words of concern striking a soft spot in his heart. "I don't mean to make you worry or anything. Everything just sucks." He outstretched his arms, signaling for Paige to observe the whole of his home. "This is my life now."

"Being a dirty couch potato?" Seth didn't respond. No quips, no sassy remarks - this wasn't good. Paige had never seen Seth so defeated before. The man was always full of confidence, even if it was unwarranted; obviously she wasn't going to forget how Seth cheated his way through every title defense, hiding behind the Authority every chance he could. Despite that, he was never one to falter, never one to lack faith in his own skills. "I'm only messing with you. Don't be such a downer."

"Can you blame me?"

No, she couldn't. Injuries weren't a common occurrence, happening once in a blue moon, but she imagined that not being able to do the thing that you loved would drive even the most resolute people into a fit of depression. "I don't blame you for being down on yourself, even though you should technically be the happiest person in the damn world right now. Your good friend comes all the way to Iowa to visit you, and you can't even crack a smile?"

"Oh, hold on." Seth flashed Paige his cheesiest grin, before frowning once more. "Better?"

"At least you still have your sense of humor." The duo fell into an awkward silence, until an idea suddenly came to Paige. "You just need your confidence back. That douchey, ass-like confidence that you usually have."

"Off to a great start there," Seth stated sarcastically, sinking further into the couch cushion. He really needed to start picking better friends. "Thanks for that."

"You know it's true. 'I'm Seth freakin' Rollins! I'm the future! I'm the man! I'm the blah blah blaaaah!' It's who you are."

"Alright, from now on, stop watching my matches."

"It's hilarious watching you stroke your own ego." Paige devolved into a fit of giggles as a disgruntled Seth Rollins pursed his lips. "But the good thing is that you can back it up. Mostly."

Seth raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean mostly?"

"You know, when you don't have seven-foot freaks and two-foot dwarves helping you out."

Seth shook his head at the subtle insult to his former allies within the Authority. Everything Paige was saying was true, of course. Seth was aware of his tendency to boast about all of his accomplishments and rub it in the faces of his adversaries - Ambrose and Reigns especially. Again he wondered where his, as Paige described, "douchey, ass-like confidence" had gone. Had this injury set him back so much that he'd forgotten who he was and all that he's done in such a short period of time? "So," he said, intrigued by Paige's newfound idea. "How do we go about doing this then?"

"You just have to do things that you normally wouldn't do, like climbing a mountain or riding some kind of wacky rollercoaster."

Paige was getting a little too excited for Seth's liking. It was strangely disturbing. "Rollercoasters? Paige, I fly around the ring all the time. Heights aren't scary when you've been on top of ladders and steel cages."

"And the mountain?"

"My leg?" Leg flailed his leg around, hoping that Paige would get the message. "Not much I can do with one leg."

"Ah, true." Paige contemplated long and hard about what she could do to help Seth obtain some of his old Seth-ness back. Others may have found Seth to be unbearable, but Paige had always admired the way he carried himself. Like her, he spoke what was on his mind, no matter how blunt. Another idea came to her, this time more doable. "What are some personal fears of yours?"

"Huh?"

Paige sighed. Was Seth even listening at all? Maybe he wasn't as invested in this as she was. "Fears. What are you afraid of? On a more inter…something level."

"Wow, intersomething. That's deep."

"Shut up! I don't know how else to describe it. Now," she shifted positions on the couch, crossing her legs underneath her body, facing Seth directly. "Tell Dr. Paige what your biggest fears are." She used her index finger to trace imaginary words on her right palm, pretending she was using a notepad of some kind.

Seth scoffed, Paige's weirdness coming to light even at the most serious of times. At least she thought it was serious, anyway. Seth only wanted to return to his game, and maybe rip out a few more spines with Sub-Zero. "Come on, what is this? A Dr. Phil parody?"

"Please don't sass Dr. Paige. She has a degree in both Psychology _and_ leg-kicking."

Seth gulped at the picture of a black boot forcefully making contact with his injured knee. "Fine. P-… Uh, Dr. Paige. I'm not afraid of anything."

"Dr. Paige believes you're full of crap." Paige felt a strange sense of pride at her impression of an actual doctor. If only she had a pair of glasses to complete the look and feel of it all. Oh well, she would have to make do with her imagination. "Everyone is afraid of something. For instance, I'm afraid of trusting people because of how others have hurt me in the past."

"That's lame." Paige punched Seth in the shoulder as hard as she could. "Ow, what the hell!"

"Next time it's going to be in the leg." Paige sighed at Seth's serious lack of empathy in certain situations. "I pour my heart and soul out to you, and you call me lame. Dr. Paige is going to take note of that." She quickly scribbled something on her (still imaginary) pad with her (still imaginary) pen.

"Dr. Paige should stop talking in the third person."

"Dr. Paige can do whatever she wants, or else someone is going to get hurt."

"Alright alright. So, biggest fears." Seth searched deep within the confines of his personality to find something he was truly 'afraid' of, or something that made him severely uncomfortable. He could think of very few things. "Well… There is one thing I hate."

"Out with it. I mean… Good good, tell the doctor your troubles."

Paige was speaking in a weird accent that Seth could barely make out. It was as if she was trying to speak in a fake English accent while already having an English accent. The result was this mangled, possibly culturally insensitive, string of sounds. Her strange accent aside, Seth hesitated to continue. "It's pretty stupid."

"Share!"

"Don't tell anyone."

"Really, Seth?" Paige stated, dropping the accent for a moment. "Who do I even talk to besides you?"

"I don't care. Promise not to say a word to anyone, and I mean _anyone_. Not your girl friends, not your mom, not your dog. No one."

"Relax, relax! I promise. Geez. What kind of doctor would I be if I didn't respect doctor-patient confidentiality?" Paige gave Seth a wink to let him know it was all in good fun, but somehow she doubted that worked out.

"I can't talk to women."

Paige snorted - she wasn't kidding when she said that Seth was blunt. That, however, was a little too blunt, catching her off-guard. The reaction was immediate. "I-I'm sorry, I just… What do you mean you can't talk to women?"

"Hey, quit laughing! Call me a jerk and then laugh in my face?"

"I'm only teasing. Now come on, explain to the good doctor."

"I guess people expect me to be good with women, because I'm the champ. Or was, I guess." Seth lost his train of thought, instead choosing to focus on his lost heavyweight championship - a title that he never truly lost, if he had any say in the matter. "Whatever. I've only ever been on one date. Senior prom. And she asked me-"

"That's good!"

"No no no, she asked me because my friend paid her."

Paige was stunned. She had no idea her friend had such a rough time with women. Actually, she would've never guessed it for herself. If she was being perfectly honest, Seth was pretty attractive. He wasn't exactly the most built guy in the world, but he had a certain charm and tone about him that made Paige have some highly questionable daydreams. "This is surprising." And it was surprising.

"You take that with you to the grave, got it?"

"You're really serious about this." Paige questioned why Seth was able to talk to her, since behind her gothic and all black sense of style, she was still a woman. She voiced as much to Seth, who shrugged.

"I don't know," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"If you say I'm not like most women, I will literally end your life right here. I'm not joking. Chalk outline, canines, police tape - right here."

"Okay. Then, most girls aren't like you." Seth mentally praised himself for his uncanny ability to think on his feet. Paige, on the other hand, looked less than pleased with his attempt at being clever. "You're pretty," Seth struggled to come up with the word. "Pretty inviting."

"Are you calling me easy?"

"What?! No!"

"Jesus, maybe you did lose your sense of humor."

"You're killing me here."

Paige rubbed her temples, looking at her false notes, something which Seth took notice of. "Okay!" Paige exclaimed, causing Seth to jump a bit. "Sorry, but I think I know what we can do. I'll be right back."

Before Seth could question what exactly his younger companion meant, she was grabbing her jacket and making her way out of the door. Minutes later, she came back with one of her small duffel bags. An audible "Ah!" left her lips after rummaging through the bag. Without warning, she marched to Seth's bathroom, leaving the confused man alone to ponder her mysterious behavior.

The sound of footsteps alerted Seth, who was clueless as ever, to Paige's return. He opened his mouth, but felt his muscles halt as she entered the room. She was wearing a lot more makeup than when she had first arrived, black lipstick adorning her lips, cheeks now a light shade of pink. "Don't drool all over yourself now," Paige said lightheartedly, taking her position back on the couch next to Seth.

Seth turned away, unable to look at her without his chest heating up. "Why did you do that?"

"What, throw a bunch of makeup on my face?" Paige pointed to her face, despite Seth trying his best not to eye her. "Because this is what you like, isn't it?"

"I'm not that shallow."

"We all like what we like. You just happen to like more shallow things."

Seth let out a nervous chuckle. "Another joke, right?"

"Sure." She had said it, but Seth definitely didn't believe it for a second. "Anyway, this is for your own good."

"How?"

Paige groaned. She was going to have to explain everything to him, wasn't she? Seth was bright, cunning, and sharp; common sense seemed to elude him sometimes. Maybe she went a little overboard with the makeup. "You have trouble talking to women. I'm a woman. Let's talk."

"And the makeup?"

"Oh, that's just to make you sweat a little." Paige smiled sweetly, sending Seth's emotions all over the place, unbeknownst to her. "Okay, so… um…"

"You didn't think this through at all did you?" Seth asked accusingly. He should've expected this. It was typical of Paige to come up with a great idea and then have no idea where it would end up. It was how they became friends, after all

 _"You're a strategy guy, right? Help me with my match on Sunday. Or don't. But seriously, help?_

It was so ridiculous that Seth wanted to write her off instantly, but he didn't. Reflecting on it now, she was the only person, besides Hunter and his bumbling security team, that bothered to approach him. He would never admit it, especially to Paige, but it did mean a lot.

"I thought it through enough, okay? So, let's start."

"Start with what?"

"Something bold, that's the aim here. Oh, compliment me!"

Seth wasn't sure if he'd heard her correctly. "Compliment you?"

"Yes." Paige was enthusiastic now. She would get to help her friend and watch him squirm at the same time. This is what friendship is all about, after all. "Now go."

"Okay." Seth was completely out of his element. With no idea how to proceed, he figured it'd be best to take a shot in the dark. "You have nice hair."

"You are bad at this. Try something more. Conquer your fear of the opposite sex, and then pin it for the 1-2-3!"

"You're enjoying this way too much," Seth noted. Paige was at her weirdest when she was enjoying herself, and right now she was practically giddy.

"Yes. Now, again!"

Seth took a deep breath. If he was going to indulge Paige in her little experiment, he might as well try to take it seriously. He decided to stop thinking, and say what came naturally to him. "Your eyes are perfect. They're that cliché sort of perfect, where I can look at them and get lost in them. Your skin is flawless. If I wasn't the gentleman that I am - hey, stop giggling! - I'd be tempted to hold you whenever we saw each other. And you're just so naturally beautiful. You don't need the makeup to make guys sweat. I don't know how you manage to wrestle and get banged up for a living while still looking so amazing."

Paige stared at Seth for a solid three minutes, before finally reacting. "Wow, that was uh… That was good. Good, very good. Yeah, you did great. I almost believed you for a second!" She laughed it off, praying that Seth couldn't tell that she was flustered. Even if his words weren't genuine, they made her feel special - so special.

"What?" Seth didn't understand. Did she believe he was only saying that for the sake of saying it? "I didn't say any of that just to get the exercise out of the way or anything. That was all me. Well I mean," now it was Seth's turn to be flustered, and flustered he was, stumbling over his words. "I said what came to me. That was the goal, wasn't it? I do think all of that. I wasn't, like, lying to try and get out of doing this or anything."

"If that was real, then you definitely have faith in yourself again."

Seth could now see just how embarrassed Paige was. Nonetheless, she was right; he felt much better about himself, like he could do anything he set his mind to. So much so, in fact, that when he carefully pressed his lips onto hers, he had all of the confidence in the universe. The kiss lasted no longer than a few seconds, but when Paige closed her eyes, bliss overtaking her senses, Seth felt like he was on top of the world.

"What was that?" Paige asked, trying her best to steady her breathing.

"I was... trying to be more bold and conquer my fear?" Seth stated. "I've wanted to do that for a while, and never really had the confidence to do it so. Yeah."

"Well, y-you need to work on it some more."

"Huh?"

Seth's confusion made Paige laugh aloud. "Yes. A confident person wouldn't have ended the kiss so soon. We should practice. Doctor's orders." They shared a pair of devilish smirks, before picking up where they had left off, lips meeting for a second time, no hesitation.

As he moved his hand to caress Paige's face, Paige's own hand encircling his neck, there were no doubts in his head: Paige was right. All he needed was a little boost to regain what he'd lost - his faith, his determination, and his sense of self.


End file.
